Well in an attempt to get user to understand how to use ADCH++ ive made a simple user guide that will show the basics of using ADCH++

http://builds.adcportal.com/index.php?folder=YWRjaHBwL3VzZXJfZ3VpZGU=

Hopefully this guide will end up in the repository for ADCH++ and suggestions on missing features or details needing more explanation are always welcome just post about it in the blog post or at DCDev Public

Hi

Well a new version of ADCH++ is out due to the fact that we kinda messed up the 2.3 release so for all of you that are out there running 2.3 update to 2.4 and you will be fine.

We also added documentation from ADCH++ on the website for any developer wanting to help out by making plugins or lua scripts.

http://adchpp.sf.net/doc/

changelog:

• 222. By Pietry
  edited installer, changelog, version
• 221. By poy
  fix command dispatching
• 220. By poy
  fix ban reason
• 219. By poy
  add +topic (and aliases), shortcut to +cfg topic
• 218. By poy
  add history & motd to the default scripts list

ADCH++ (Windows Bin Zip File)

ADCH++ (Windows Installation)

ADCH++ (Source Windows/Linux)

Hey people back again doing a monolog here on the blog this time its about ADCH++ 2.3

We all know that the last release wasn’t a big success but i wanna show of the new features in ADCH++ , it was more then a year ago since we had a release on ADCH++ and much new stuff has been added into it.

So what are the new features:

User Commands, ADCS (preliminary implementation), more scripts for the soft.

There is also a doxygen included in the BZR repo at launchpad for anyone that wants to make a plugin in C++ or make lua scripts or python script all you have to do is download Doxygen to make the documentation we will host the documentation at ADCH++ webspace on Sourceforge also.

I really wanna commend poy for his efforts put into this version of ADCH++ and listening to input and feedback with this version things can only get better in the future of ADCH++

We are still looking for a GUI maker so if your out there and think you got what it takes drop into DCDev Public and talk to us or drop the source of at launchpad.

and we hope that suggestions for ADCH++ will come up at our tracker on Launchpad so we can get your input for what your missing in ADCH++ or possible bugs thats giving your problems.

So people out there give it a go and say what you think about it

ADCH++ 2.3 Windows Installer

ADCH++ 2.3 Windows Zip File

ADCH++ 2.3 Source Code (both Windows and Linux)

Hi everyone we just wanted to tell everyone that we are online again with another hubsoft so all regs are lost so if your missing your account at DCDev just contact me at the hub and we will re-register your account

Well just wanted to give out a heads up on DCDev public we had some recent problems with hubsofts and crashes we are currently trying to resolve the issue so when we are done DCDev Public will be online again

As some of you may know, ADCPortal is for some time a part of DCDev. ADCPortal provides the following for the normal user: latest news about the protocol and all the main software that is available on the market, ideas and comments about the future of the network ( what’s coming up and more ), information about all the protocol features including all the known extensions. One can also register and ask questions or propose his/her own extension.

ADCPortal also provides a full wiki that can be consulted to get all the required information about ADC.

The interested developer also has the opportunity to get in touch with the protocol designers and also people who worked around ADC, or created pieces of software for it.

We strongly encourage everybody interested in ADC to visit ADCPortal in order to get more information. Lately I heard that the main reason people are reticent about ADC is the lack of information. ADCPortal has been around for nearly two years, but people still wouldn’t come and ask. So please, come around, ask whatever question you like, don’t be shy, we will be very happy to answer you. We also hope you will find the site useful and we wait for you to join us.

So i thought i do a review for our users here on the forum about functionality and hub software, its about 8 months since DSHub was discontinued by Pietry. So what has happened since has there been progress in other hub software or is the hub software still lacking functionality?

Well I’m gonna try and go threw the the currently available software out there for the hungry ADC hub owner so they can make the right choice for them. Lets start by analyzing whats out there for the normal user.

ADCH++

This hub software has basically been an empty shell so far the latest “stable” release is more then an year old and the gui that was in the works seems kinda dead since there is no trace of Sulan and the code but that doesn’t mean that the project is dead cause things are brewing in the BZR as of late due to Poys effort to make it into a working hub software for the normal user.

ADCH++ commands now:
- [00:39] <ADCH++> Available commands:
+ban nick [reason] [minutes] – ban an online user (aliases: +banuser)
+bancid CID [reason] [minutes]
+banip IP [reason] [minutes]
+banmsgre msg-reg-exp [reason] [minutes]
+bannick nick [reason] [minutes]
+bannickre nick-reg-exp [reason] [minutes]
+help
+history [lines] – display main chat messages logged by the hub (aliases: +hist)
+info [nick or CID or IP] – information about a user, or about the hub if no parameter given (aliases: +userinfo, +stats, +hubinfo)
+listbans (aliases: +showbans)
+loadbans (aliases: +reloadbans)
+mass message [level] (aliases: +massmessage)
+regme password
+regnick nick password level
+test
+topic [topic] (aliases: +changetopic, +hubtopic, +settopic)

This kinda looks promising but there are some stuff missing still like configuring hub from within cause most hub owners don’t wanna open up XML files every time they wanna change stuff also a simple first time configuration tool would be nice for those that aren’t that experienced with how to setup a hub software since GUI is still missing.

on the matter of GUI while im on the subject i know that most developers want to include a GUI for their software, i can understand this to a point a GUI takes performance away from the software etc.

But a standalone GUI for those that want a software would be nice that way users could have the best of two world non GUI and GUI like Pietry did with DSHub it can run with GUI or without and looking at the current market of ADC Hubs out there its pretty clear that DSHub still holds its ground after the discontinuation.

ADCH++ has 2 developer: arnetheduck and poy and updates are kinda irregular at best since they also maintain DC++, that has effected the popularity of ADCH++ due to lack of maintenance lets hope that this changes for the future if anyone wants to help out and provide missing stuff to ADCH++ such as scripts (lua/python) or ideas for the hub software don’t hesitate check out the recent version in BZR and help out.

µHub

This project is one that i have high hopes for the project of Jan Vidar Krey this poor overworked opera developer has really put effort into stability his hub software currently holds the record for most users on an ADC hub (2k users).

Now looking at at this hub software is basically the same idea as ADCH++ no gui, xml files configuration not the ideal for a beginner either but it has good documentation thats always a big plus for anyone that wants to learn how to use the software.

The get started guide is for Linux it could use an windows version just for clarification for the beginners most of the commands works but not all, it also contains a how to compile guide for both Windows and Linux that way they can checkout the latest version on Github

I know that this project plans on having a WebUI for interface that is certainly a nice idea if its done correctly we have seen this idea tried before and semi fail due to security reasons.

Updates for uHub has been really nice in the past and i hopes it will remain that way in the future.

Again if you the user want to help out then download a copy of the hub software and suggest ideas at the official tracker of uHub, that way Jan Vidar gets what users wants in the hub software.

The command list so far it might look thin but the basic things are in there.

<uHub> *** help: Available commands:
!help – Show this help message.
!stats – Show hub statistics.
!version – Show hub version info.
!history – Show the last chat messages.
!uptime – Display hub uptime info.
!kick – Kick a user
!ban – Ban a user
!unban – Lift ban on a user
!reload – Reload configuration files.
!shutdown – Shutdown hub.
!myip – Show your own IP.
!getip – Show IP address for a user
!whoip – Show users matching IP range
!broadcast – Send a message to all users
!log – Display log
!crash – Crash the hub (DEBUG).

Luadch

Last years winner of the “ADCPortal hub software project of the year” went kinda quiet for a long time it recently got a second wind when Blastbeat put some effort into it changing the core to libevent instead of his custom core thus improving performance.

The project also abandoned the old forum for a new host app forum on Sourceforge.

The project could use a new release on Sourceforge to get the message out that it is alive again and the SVN could use a cleanup since there are 3 different versions in the SVN.

I recently talked to Blastbeat about a simple GUI to hide the DOS window and at the time he seemed up to the idea of doing this he was also planning a rewrite of the project if memory serves me correctly.

Another good thing about luadch is the script base thats growing on its forum since the re-launch both in german and in english language with scripts like google bot and fresh ‘n’ stuff.

Conclusion

Developing open source isn’t always easy everyday life vs Internet time is always a factor to be taken in if updates doesn’t come out in time its always up to the developer to inform the user if such problems should appear so that the user base of the problem doesn’t go suffering.

Too maintain a software successfully it takes time and dedication to the users the project has too take in what the general mass wants in a hub software making it a user friendly software, GUI seems to be what the masses are screaming for in this day and age and the only hub software that has it is a discontinued one that says a lot about the user input in the ADC side.

So my question to the hub owners out there what are your thoughts and needs cause i think i got most of it into this post but please comment

———————————-
Toast – ADCPortal Maintainer

In an effort to get a draft out on ADCS me and Ullner (Pretorian) has agreed to set a deadline for the extension since there has been so much talk about how to implement it along with features with using TLS like cert logins etc so we thought that an open discussion would be in order so we can actually have an official draft on the extension

The question i got for the lurking developers working on ADC is where to have the discussions ?

Forum or Wiki

The deadline for ADCS is in November that is ample time to get the job done if everyone pitches in.

Today, file sharing it’s not just about you, me, or friends and the rest of the world. Files are not just streams of bytes anymore. They are representing us, in a way. Ever since telnet was used back in the old ages of networking, the need for sending files from one computer to another has increased exponentially.

DC++ offers a simple, plain way to keep your personal files available over the network. Some may say too simple, some may say it’s perfect this way. There are people who use DC++ and are happy with it, and some people who want more.

Let’s say I’m in both categories, I like using DC++ but also want more from it.

The current trending in file sharing is about social networking and metafiles. How can this be integrated into DC++? Well, I have some ideasand I want to point them out a little.

Files aren’t streams anymore, some are personal, like photos and movies, some are educational or informative, like documents , some are general purpose programs like a linux distribution. Each file could have a metafile attached to it. This way one could add basic information into tags, except the hash which is the sole metadata for now, like keywords or a picture. Size, description can be valuable information about a file, not counting it’s name.

Like this, one could search for keywords, can look at the descriptive picture and decide whether to download or not the file. In DC++, the file list could support this kind of feature. The list could be divided into categories ( pictures, video and so on ), each file could have a thumbnail, a description attached to it and some keywords, how many other people were interested in the file ( number of downloads ), or even a ranking system created by DC++ about the file. Searching can also evolve in this manner.

Social networking can be implemented more lively and can make file sharing an easy and pleasurable way of interacting with people and spending a nice time.

I certainly hope that DC++ will grow in this kind of features but also to support basic file sharing as it always did, simple, and easy to use.

Ban, kick, drop. Words that instigate fear upon those poor key-less users, by granting their operators god-like powers.

If you’ve been frequenting DC hubs for some time, surely these are the definitions that you have built up for these terms:

• Ban: add the offender to a list of prohibited users that may never be allowed to log back into the hub.
• Kick: add the user to the prohibited list, but lift the stoppage after a certain amount of time.
• Drop: just disconnect the user; he may reconnect whenever he wants to.

Now as far as i can tell, this is very specific to the Direct Connect world. In other online communities where exclusions are necessary, like gaming servers or IRC, these are the definitions that i have always encountered so far:

• Ban: add the offender to a list of prohibited users that may never be allowed to come back – the ban can be temporary or permanent, but regardless, it’s still a ban.
• Kick: just disconnect the user; he may reconnect whenever he wants to.

To summarize, here is a handy chart that you might find useful if you happen to be admin in DC hubs and in other online communities at the same time:

I hope you’re confused enough now!

poy